Microsoft sued by Commercial Content Moderators (#CCM) in first-of-its-kind case

In a first-of-its kind case, a Washington state attorney has filed suit on behalf of two Microsoft employees who were exposed to disturbing and abhorrent content, all a part of the conditions of their work at Microsoft as commercial content moderators (CCM). According to the article reported in the McClatchy syndicate of newspapers, the two… Continue reading Microsoft sued by Commercial Content Moderators (#CCM) in first-of-its-kind case

WIRED Publishes Piece on Commercial Content Moderation (CCM) in Philippines; US

After many months of anticipation, journalist Adrian Chen's piece on commercial content moderation as practiced in BPO (business process outsourcing) sites in the Philippines is out in WIRED magazine today. In it, Chen focuses on the employees of a US firm, TaskUs, whose employees are laboring on behalf of Silicon Valley social media startup Whisper and… Continue reading WIRED Publishes Piece on Commercial Content Moderation (CCM) in Philippines; US

Exciting CFP: DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES, the New School, NYC, NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014

Call for Proposals DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES To be held at The New School, a university in New York City NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014 #dl14 The third in The New School's Politics of Digital Culture Conference Series Sponsored by The New School and The Institute for Distributed Creativity Digital Labor: The Internet as… Continue reading Exciting CFP: DIGITAL LABOR: SWEATSHOPS, PICKET LINES, AND BARRICADES, the New School, NYC, NOVEMBER 14-16, 2014

Obscurity through Transparency: Facebook releases infographic that reveals little – by design?

As reported by Reuters and picked up in the Huffington Post, Facebook today released a confusing infographic ostensibly designed to shed light on the cryptic route that reported content takes through the company's circuit of screening. According to the company, content flagged as inappropriate, for any one of myriad reasons, makes its way to "...staffers… Continue reading Obscurity through Transparency: Facebook releases infographic that reveals little – by design?

Social Media’s Dirty Work: Contextualizing the Facebook Screening Controversy

In the past few days my inbox has seen an influx in forwards from friends and colleagues, all sharing links with me covering the recent revelation that Facebook outsources some of its dirtiest work, and that those  firms handling Facebook's outsourced labor pay exploitatively low wages for some of the most psychologically damaging digital work… Continue reading Social Media’s Dirty Work: Contextualizing the Facebook Screening Controversy